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Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 13 Jan 2013 16:23
by IndraD
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/maoi ... 42056.html

Latehar attack: 'Maoists were well-armed carrying LMGs, AK-47s and even mortars... We were left at their mercy,' says CRPF jawan

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 20:28
by nawabs
Latehar carnage: Is 2013 the beginning of renewed Maoist violence?

http://www.firstpost.com/india/latehar- ... 84770.html
“The balance of terror has tilted in their favour,” said a senior CRPF officer to me grimly, referring to the Latehar encounter in Jharkhand four days ago in which not only were 10 CRPF jawans were killed but the Maoists did something they had never done before. They had implanted a pressure bomb prototype in the abdomen of a dead CRPF jawan, after he was killed in the ambush, with the intention of inflicting more casualties during the airlifting of his body.

Three civilians were killed when security personnel tried to shift the bodies without realising that they were booby trapped with an explosive device by the Maoists. Another 1.5 kg IED, which was crudely planted by removing a part of the intestine in jawan Babulal Patel’s body, was powerful enough to blow up a landmine-proof vehicle. The crude stitches on Patel’s body were noticed during the autopsy, raising suspicion. The bomb disposal experts who defused the bomb admitted that it was a first for them to defuse a bomb in a body. The Maoist strategy of using a dead security person as a suicide bomber is seen as a crossing of all limits.

There are a few reasons why. One, the Maoists have been known to leave behind booby traps in the form of landmines at a scene of a battle, which is one reason why security forces are wary of rushing in immediately on hearing of news of an encounter. But Latehar brings bad tidings. That is because the MCC Maoists (Arvind who is suspected to be the brain behind the attack, is a leader from the MCC which merged with the People’s War Group to form the CPI (Maoist) in 2004) were never known for their IED showmanship. In contrast, the People’s War Group which operated in Andhra Pradesh was notorious for using IEDs, almost like a signature.

Two, a ‘surgery’ like the one carried out in Latehar would have taken more than an hour and indicates the presence of several ‘experts’ among the 250 outlaws who surrounded the troops and carried out the encounter. It also indicates a more inhuman and barbaric side to the movement, that is known to mete out cruel treatment to their enemies by branding them police informers in kangaroo courts.

Three, the Maoists in Jharkhand with this single encounter and mutilation of the bodies have gained the psychological upper hand. Because while they will put up a brave front, somewhere deep down in their heart, every CRPF jawan will now fear for his dead body.

What does this mean for India’s fight against its most serious internal security threat?

Strategists in the paramilitary outfit while terming the incident “unprecedented” say the time for ‘gentleman soldiers’ is over.
“This is an asymmetrical war that calls for asymmetrical responses. This could mean not going by the rulebook in letter and spirit. We have to hit them below the belt,” says a senior CRPF officer who has served in several Maoist-infested zones.

But it is easier said than done. What makes the job difficult is that the intelligence available to those heading anti-Maoist operations is practically next to nothing. This means the onus is on the jawans on the ground to get their inputs based on how the villagers in an area are behaving, looking out for footprints and other tell-tale signs.Security experts say Jharkhand will have to hit back and fast, instead of having a calibrated response that is carried out after a long time, even if it means targeting the overground sympathisers who helped the Maoists undertake such a daring encounter. Because a demoralised force could be the state’s worst enemy.

This encounter taking place in the first month of the year also confirms some of the worst fears of the security forces. They believe that 2012, which was a relatively quiet year in terms of Maoist strikes, was a year of strategic retreat, during which they decided not to confront the enemy but to consolidate by recruiting, recuperating, striking new alliances and looking for newer ways of raising funds and acquiring weapons. The CRPF believes 2013 could see Maoist violence of alarming proportions.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 07:08
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
FOOD OVER CASH

An article in the CPM weekly People’s Democracy argues that introducing direct cash transfers to replace the existing public distribution system was aimed at denial of entitlements in the long run, and the privatisation of PDS itself. The article says arguments that direct cash transfers would be an “efficient way” to check leakage and corruption are misplaced.

It adds that universal coverage would increase the efficiency of the PDS and help plug leakages, citing the experiences of states like Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Orissa, Rajasthan and Jharkhand, it says, there is a move to expand the BPL list and make PDS more inclusive. “In most of these states the state governments pay for expanded coverage, even as Central allocations to states become more restricted. This expanded coverage has increased the efficiency of the PDS as it has reduced the diversion of PDS stocks,” the article says, noting that NSSO data has shown that diversion went down from 52 per cent in 2004-05 to 11 per cent in 2009-10. In Orissa, it went down from 70 to 30 per cent in the same period. The article claims that surveys by independent organisations have shown that the poor prefer foodgrain to cash, as far as the PDS is concerned.

INVESTING IN MODI

The editorial in the CPI(ML) journal ML Update analyses the Vibrant Gujarat Summit politically and links the biennial meet to Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s perceived prime ministerial ambitions. It says Modi had turned to big business to bail him out of the Godhra taint: “Just as crisis-ridden corporations look to the state for economic bailout packages, here was Modi seeking a political rescue package from global capital... the latest edition of [the summit] surpassed all previous ones in terms of corporate promises of economic investment in Gujarat and political investment in Modi as the next potential prime minister...”

The editorial also takes note of the tension on the India-Pakistan border, accusing the Congress of “fanning up a jingoistic frenzy” against Pakistan in the hope of containing the BJP. Referring to the army chief’s statement that India reserved the right to retaliate at a time and place of its own choosing, it says, “the army chief must be aware that in real life, the logic of war does not respect any pre-designed script... A war with Pakistan, bringing in its wake greater American intervention in the entire region, including India, is the last thing that India needs... Instead of flirting with war, the governments of both India and Pakistan must be compelled to abide by the 2003 ceasefire agreement.”

PURDAH PARIVAR

The CPI argues that the Delhi gangrape has not just triggered a debate on the status of women in India’s patriarchal society and turned the spotlight on the need for gender equality, but also revealed the “real mindset” of various politicians and self-proclaimed protectors of our culture. It says the “most regressive” comments have come from the protagonists of Hindutva. While mentioning Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee’s “dented and painted” remark and the remarks of the TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and avoiding any reference to CPM leader Anisur Rahman’s comments about Mamata Banerjee, an editorial in New Age attacks the Sangh Parivar.

“Right from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and VHP stalwart Ashok Singhal to self-imposed godman Asaram, all have asserted the inherent patriarchal notion that the women have to be dependent on men... Women should be confined to Chadar and Chardiwari... Now the top guns of the Hindutva brigade are echoing it, of course on the basis of their own interpretations of Hindu scriptures like Manu Smirti and formulations like women are among those deprived segments of our society who are ‘tadan ke Adhikari’ (worth beating),” it says. The editorial also talks about how consumerist culture is converting women into commodities.

Compiled by Manôj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 10:09
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
VERMA REPORT

CPI(ML) journal ML Update argues that the Justice Verma committee report on laws dealing with crimes against women is a vindication of the demands of the ongoing movement against sexual violence. "In many ways, the Justice Verma committee report has given body and substance to what the protesters on the street were saying. The panel has done what the government should, in fact, have done: engaged seriously with activists working in the field as well as survivors of sexual violence and... come up with recommendations that reflect their concerns," the editorial says.

The best instance of the report's recognition of a woman's unqualified autonomy as a person in her own right, it says, is its recommendation that marital rape be included in the purview of the rape law. It also claims there was palpable discomfort in the Central government and in opposition parties like the BJP. "The UPA government, for which the JVC was a mere protest management exercise, is now avoiding the eye of the report... And even the BJP and most other ruling class opposition parties, have maintained silence... This is not surprising: the report hits at the foundations of patriarchy and the parties which are the pillars of that patriarchy are understandably discomfited," it says. It concludes that the UPA must implement the report or quit.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY?

Despite implementation of several programmes formulated after the Justice Sachar panel highlighted the poor socio-economic conditions of the Indian Muslims, the condition of Muslims in India has remained the same", an article in CPM journal People's Democracy claims. "The prime minister's 15-point programme clearly identifies enhancing opportunities for education as one of the main strategies for minority welfare." Noting that the level of improvement in literacy among SC and STs was significantly higher than that among the Muslims, it says the study shows that this pattern only gets more accentuated at the higher levels of education.

It says, "this lag in educational attainment has had an impact on the patterns of employment among the Muslims. The data... show that most of the formal sector employment is dominated by upper caste Hindus and minorities other than Muslims".

TWO PARTY STORY

An editorial in CPI journal New Age focuses on the elevation of Rahul Gandhi and the leadership change in the BJP. It argues that both parties displayed a lack of faith in the democratic process. The article describes Rahul Gandhi's appointment as his "coronation". It says the Jaipur declaration was perhaps the "most disappointing document" issued by any all-India conclave of the century-old political party. The editorial alleges that the Congress suffers from ideological bankruptcy. "Though it talks of adhering to the ideology of secularism, nationalism, social justice, social cohesion, etc, (no mention of socialism, of course) it wants to give away 'the outdated ideologies and obscurantist philosophies'," it says.

On the other hand, the BJP states it had to dump its national president a few hours before his re-election as he is accused of serious financial misdoings. "The pen-pushers of the Sangh tribe are trying to portray as if [sic] the RSS... had been out-smarted by the seniors of the political wing. It is a clever move to hide the reality," it says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:14
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
BAD BILL

Claiming that the government has ignored almost all the basic recommendations of the select committee, the Left has indicated that the passage of the Lokpal Bill in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament may not be easy.

"The way the Union government has treated the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Lokpal Bill, it is obvious that the government is not serious [about] getting the bill passed... The draft approved by the cabinet is bound to be opposed not only inside Parliament but outside as well", the editorial in CPI weekly New Age says. The editorial argues that the delay in bill's passage will encourage those who want to use it to "sidetrack other, much more serious problems, particularly the economic crisis".

POLITICAL DECISION

The CPI(ML) has criticised the government for hanging Afzal Guru. An editorial in ML Update states that "it was impossible to see the execution in a narrow legal framework and miss the political context and content that stare all of us in the face." It claims that the information of rejection of Guru's clemency plea was kept secret to prevent him from seeking a possible judicial stay on the grounds of the delay in the disposal of his petition.

"The Congress had earlier said the Afzal petition would be taken up after petitions from earlier dates had been disposed. Why was the queue suddenly jumped?" it asks. "The fact that it was a political decision to hang Afzal Guru on the eve of the Budget session with the 2014 Lok Sabha elections not too far away is clear to anybody... Even if the government were now to show parity in execution, the alienation of the average Kashmiri has been deepened immeasurably..." it concludes.

GROWING INTOLERANCE

An editorial in CPM journal People's Democracy focuses on the politics of cultural and religious intolerance. The article compares the present situation with that in the NDA days. "High pitched communal and religious intolerance dominated the discourse at that time... Unfortunately, now history seems to have travelled in a full circle," it says.

The article refers to the speeches made by Praveen Togadia and Akbaruddin Owaisi, protests over Vishwaroopam, row over the all girl Kashmiri rock music group Praagaash and West Bengal government preventing the visit Salman Rushdie and argues that "all these are ominous signs that threaten the unity and integrity of our country and the secular fabric of our society."

It adds: "A desperate RSS-led BJP, in its effort to regain control of the reins of government at Delhi... is preparing to fall back on its core Hindutva agenda to rouse communal passions. The consequent communal polarisation, it hopes, will deliver political and electoral benefits".

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:44
by Sachin
Maoists presence noticed in forests in the Kerala-Karntaka border (Feb 13,2013).
Raid in Kannur forest for Maoists

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:15
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
GURU'S EXECUTION

The CPM and CPI journals critised the manner of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. "The rejection of the mercy petition was not informed to the convict and the family... was not given the opportunity to meet him for the last time. That a letter by registered and speed post was sent to the family informing them about the rejection of the mercy petition and the date of the execution makes this act of commission all the more glaring and callous," CPM weekly People's Democracy says.

"After the rejection of mercy petition by the president, the convict has the right of review. In this case that right has been denied," CPI journal New Age claims. People's Democracy notes that unlike in other cases, the rejection of the mercy petition was quickly followed by Guru's execution. "The feeling that a Kashmiri is expendable while those from other parts of India are not will only be reinforced... With the UPA government singularly failing to take any concrete steps for advancing political dialogue and a political solution, the way Afzal Guru was executed will only fuel more alienation..." it says.

CORRUPTION IN DEFENCE

An editorial in the CPI(ML)'s ML Update criticises the government for the corruption in the chopper deal. "Why has the government been sitting idle since the scam came to light in 2011, reacting only now... And instead of entrusting the CBI, which is notoriously slow and politically pliable, why can't we have a special investigation team monitored directly by the Supreme Court?" it asks.

The article points out that the Obama administration had rejected the offer for similar VVIP choppers, finding it too costly. "This clearly shows the Indian government's profligacy when it comes to defence purchases... India's defence budget is never subjected to any rational scrutiny and is treated as a holy cow... How many more scams will it take to convince us that the defence budget is routinely raised and inflated only to hide more scams?" it asks.

BUDGET PREVIEW

Ahead of the budget, the Left has renewed its tax-the-rich demand. In a front page article in New Age, D. Raja says the focus of the budget should be on revenue generation and not on expenditure cutting. He argues that there was enough room to generate revenues and demands an increase in rate of tax for those in the highest tax bracket, introduction of special surcharges for those who earn more than a crore per annum, introduction of inheritance tax, minimum securities transaction tax and tax on dividends and removal of tax concessions given to corporations.

"Currently, long-term capital gains are exempted. This should be withdrawn immediately," he says. The Left has also demanded that there should not be any expenditure cuts in health, education, food, fertiliser, fuel and NREGA. "These are necessary to sustain the consumption demand in the economy," he says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 27 Feb 2013 07:10
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
POLICY DISAGREEMENT

The Left journals have written extensively about the two-day trade union strike and demand a shift in the trajectory of economic policy. While People's Democracy asks the government to read the writing on the wall, ML Update advises the UPA to heed the people's voice or quit office.

"The powerful pan-union strike reflected a growing unity and assertion of the Indian working class... The strike has sent a message of warning from the people to the country's rulers. The people have made it clear they want the government to act fast and show results, and not deliver empty rhetoric," ML Update said in an editorial. "The aam aadmi wants prices to be checked and all essential goods and services made adequately available and affordable to the common people," it adds.

People's Democracy does not see much change in government policy. On the Union budget, it says, "in the name of fiscal discipline, the government has already indicated that there will be a monthly hike in the prices of petroleum products and a large-scale reduction in the subsidies meant for the poor. Given its pro-rich bias, the government has not given any indication whatsoever on the issue of the massive tax concessions that it has been continuously giving to the rich and India Inc," it alleges.

CHOPPER SCANDAL

An editorial in CPI weekly New Age talks about the chopper scam, arguing that the government response has tried to hush up the whole issue. It demands an enquiry by a special investigating team under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

It also claims that there are apprehensions that both the UPA and the BJP-led NDA may not agree to an independent, objective probe as these deals have leaders from both sides on the suspect list. "Change in the specification of helicopters for VVIPs provided avenues for the bribe-giving company and was initiated by Brajesh Mishra, the closest aide of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was prime minister. The deal was struck finally in 2010 when UPA 2 was in power," it adds.

PROTEST COVERAGE

An article by Teesta Setalvad in People's Democracy analyses the way the media covered the police crackdown on the anti-gangrape protests in Delhi and the police firing in Maharashtra's Dhule. She argues that the images of the Delhi Police firing teargas and water cannons at protesters at India Gate are embedded in the nation's psyche "largely courtesy of our omnipresent 24x7 news networks, sharpened further by the ever-prescient discussions on the 9 pm" shows.

She contrasts this with the police firing in Dhule in which six Muslims were killed and a similar police action in Gujarat, where three Dalits were killed. "Both tragedies at Thangadh and Dhule, though they cost precious lives, were reduced to a media sideshow, albeit the print editions of English language national dailies did temporally highlight the incidents and issues. Despite the availability of sensationally thrilling clips from Dhule that should have pleased and fed the avaricious eye of the TV camera, these clips lay buried in afternoon bulletins or showed in midnight hour shifts, cleverly bypassing the noisy news hour," she says.

"The power of the news story and television image is legendary but the selective use of this power bears some searching questions. Is criminally deviant police behaviour spotlighted only when it happens in Delhi, possibly Mumbai, but slips past the camera lenses if Dalits or Muslims are involved?" she asks.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 01 Mar 2013 19:57
by abhishek_sharma

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 09:31
by abhishek_sharma
From Volkogonov, Dmitri: Lenin Simon & Schuster, Inc..
The national sections of Comintern, that is the non-Russian parties, had the task not only of recruiting new members and producing propaganda, but also of organizing strikes, demonstrations, protest marches and uprisings wherever possible. Under the cover of Comintern, the Politburo succeeded in creating a number of bases abroad. For instance, its representative in Turkestan wrote to Karakhan, a Deputy Foreign Commissar, to ask the Politburo: ‘1) Whether it would sanction the formation of an Indian base in Turkestan, in collaboration with the Central Committee’s own Turkburo; 2) To whom am I to transmit the 2 million gold roubles?’ Lenin’s answers to these questions were given orally, and only his signature, in red ink, appears on the document.185 Until Comintern had its own proper budget—and it would soon be funded by both the Central Committee and the OGPU for its own secret operations—most decisions on financial matters were made personally by Lenin.

For example, Ivan Rahja, the Finnish Bolshevik who had helped to hide him in the summer of 1917, and who was now one of the leaders of the Finnish Communist Party, asked Lenin for ten million Finnish marks’ worth of valuables for his party’s use. Lenin agreed.186 From Bengal a letter came via Chicherin asking for money and literature to help overthrow the British Raj: ‘I would ask you to convey my greetings to all the brave comrades who so valiantly struggle for the liberation of mankind: Lenin, Trotsky, Chicherin. Signed Virendranat Chattopadia.’ The Eastern Section of the Foreign Commissariat noted on this document: ‘If we are seriously thinking of revolutionizing India, we should bank on the non-Muslim population … As for the funding Ch[attopadia] talks about, he has undoubtedly been corrupted by European life, having been kept for a long time on German money.’187 There were many such ‘revolutionaries’ in need of Russian money, and many who received it.

...

In countless speeches, the Bolshevik leaders stressed armed uprising and the need to bring armies over to their side, and they attempted to pursue this policy along the entire periphery of Soviet Russia. As their hopes for Hungary faded, they turned their attention to the East. Trotsky wrote: ‘In the European sphere of world politics, our Red Army will turn out to be of rather modest size, both for offensive and defensive purposes … The position is quite different if we turn to face the East … The road to India might seem more passable and shorter for us at the present moment than the one to Hungary.’201 He went on to advise that a powerful military base be established in the Urals from which to revolutionize the East. He predicted that ‘Asia could become the arena of early uprisings’ and therefore the Soviets should prepare for an assault on India via Afghanistan, and he ordered Field Commander Lebedev to deliver ‘the necessary military supplies to Afghanistan’.202

Meanwhile, it was important not to neglect Persia, which had only recently seemed to be ‘going Red’. Fedor Raskolnikov, the regional Red Army commander, had reported to Moscow, on returning from Enzel, that the situation in Persia was indescribable: ‘The entire people greeted us with extraordinary enthusiasm. At first, red flags were to be seen in only a few places, but now the whole town is covered with them. The Persian Cossacks have told us they are at our disposal. I arrested the Russian officer in charge of them and appointed one of our own people in his place … I request your instructions concerning future policy in Persia. Should I consider myself at liberty to move deeper into Persia if a revolution takes place and a new government requests help from us?’203

The Persian affair soon came to a standstill. Efforts were made to save the revolution there. Central Committee emissary Abukov wrote asking for urgent help to be sent to Moscow’s ally, Mirza Kuchuk: ‘Help is needed in arms, gold, silver … So far Kuchuk is in control of only two towns … Raskolnikov has promised him official recognition … We await proper help …’204

Proposals were pouring in about where to go next: revolutionary action was urged in Korea, China and India. In August 1919 the Chairman of the Kalmyk Executive Committee, Chapchaev, suggested sending armed units to India ‘from the other side’, i.e. through Mongolia and Tibet. Money and gold would be needed, and the units should also take arms to distribute to the local population. As cover, they should disguise themselves as a scientific expedition. Lenin immediately ordered that concrete measures be undertaken to carry out these suggestions.205


Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:10
by abhishek_sharma
Volkogonov, Dmitri Lenin Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Lenin as History

Lenin at the turn of the century was almost a typical Russian social democrat. He was the Lenin-Ulyanov who could observe Russia from abroad and create his abstract scenarios, abuse the Tsar and send advice on how to organize revolutionary action. But he separated himself from the liberal trend in social democracy and set off on the more radical course. From the time of the 1905 revolution his attacks on the liberal intelligentsia became savage, as he saw in liberal politicians the chief obstacle to his plans. His anti-liberalism was a mark of his general antipathy to liberty as a political and moral value.

The ‘bolshevization’ of his mind then took place. It seemed as if he could not envisage himself back in Russia unless a revolution took place, yet even in January 1917 he did not believe the revolution would happen. Had it not been for the First World War and the February revolution, Lenin night have lived out his days vegetating in Zurich or Geneva. Lenin was one of the few social democrats who saw in the war an ally for his cause. It had been the chief factor of the fall of the tsarist regime, but the Provisional Government that followed did not know how to get out of it with honour. Lenin knew how to get out of it, even if there was to be no honour. He came to the conclusion that the war must be buried, even at the cost of Russia’s defeat. Indeed, he staked everything on Russia’s defeat, and went still further, calling for the war between nations to be turned into a war within nations, a civil war. This is crucially important to an understanding of Lenin: to achieve his goal he was prepared to transcend patriotism, national honour and common humanity.

When he took control of the revolutionary government, Lenin was armed only with theoretical plans, and had never governed anyone, other than his wife. He was simply helpless when confronted with the mountain of Russia’s problems. All he could think of was to confiscate, requisition and expropriate everything. To do this he needed only one device, merciless dictatorship. A mere two or three months before, he had been talking about the withering away of the state, and now he was feverishly creating an army, tribunals, people’s commissars, an inspectorate, secret departments and a diplomatic service. The new state structure could only be made to work by recourse to the despised bourgeois ‘experts’.

Lenin’s dispositions as founder and leader of the new state may have been superficial, haphazard and half-baked, but they were also harsh and cruel. He was not, in my view, the Janus he is often said to be: his character was of a piece. He was a total Bolshevik who combined in himself a number of traits which made him unique. He was committed to the revolution to the point of frenzy, and only what Viktor Chernov called Lenin’s ‘irrational common sense’ saved himself and his party in hopeless situations.148

He was willing to commit appallingly cruel acts in the name of the revolution. Although he was not personally vindictive, like Stalin, he did believe that the revolution would fail if the millstones of the dictatorship ceased to grind for a moment. While this Jacobin outlook was little better than Stalin’s brutality, it seemed to give a noble purpose, a certain revolutionary aura, to force and cruelty.

In a letter to Trotsky of 22 October 1919, Lenin wrote that the way to ‘finish off [White General] Yudenich is to mobilize another 20,000 [Petrograd] workers plus 10,000 of the bourgeoisie, put machine-guns at their backs, shoot a few hundred and put real, massive pressure on Yudenich’.149 Twenty-two years later, in the autumn of 1941, when Zhukov and Zhdanov reported to Stalin that the Germans were advancing on the defenders of Leningrad behind a living shield of Russian civilians (the old men, women and children were crying out, ‘Don’t shoot, we’re your people!’), Stalin at once signalled back: ‘My advice is don’t give in to sentimentality, bash the enemy and his accomplices in the teeth … Give the Germans and their delegates everything you’ve got, whoever they are.’150

Believing that ‘everything is moral that facilitates the victory of Communism’, Lenin readily sacrificed long-term strategy to short-term tactics. Defending the excesses of War Communism in January 1920 against the arguments of Trotsky, who was by then convinced of the need to alter course, he said: ‘We sacrificed tens of thousands of the best Communists for 10,000 White officers and it saved the country. We have to apply the same methods now, or there’ll be no grain.’151 Only when hundreds of thousands more had died from execution, hunger and above all rebellion, did Lenin yield and resort to the NEP, a solution forced on him to resuscitate the basic economy.

Lenin’s ideas for creating the just and equal Communist society were delusions, yet they also possessed their own iron logic. The Russian revolution, as he saw it, was only the beginning. Russia was only the detonator of world upheaval. He was ready to sacrifice Russia in order to trigger the continental conflagration. The campaign against Poland, which was his initiative, ‘cost the country dear’, in Trotsky’s words, and its outcome, in the Treaty of Riga, ‘cut us off from Germany and … gave a powerful impulse to the consolidation of the European bourgeoisie’. Trotsky, however, no less a Jacobin than Lenin, believed the goal was worth the risk.152 He did not mention that the senseless policy had also cost the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, and reparations to Poland of more than thirty million gold roubles.153 Another symptom of this senselessness was the transfer of ninety-three tonnes of tsarist gold to Berlin only two months before Germany capitulated in November 1918.

Lenin’s dream of turning the planet red was based on false thinking bred by years of sitting in isolation and making up schemes for world Communist revolution, without taking account of ethnic, national, religious, geographical or cultural factors. He saw only class and economic motives, and the only value he was prepared to defend was power. There is no hint in any of the vast array of archival material to suggest that he was troubled by his conscience about any of the long list of destructive measures he took. Lenin was not personally vain, but he genuinely identified himself with the idea in which he believed. Because his delusions to some extent reflected universal values of social justice, he succeeded in converting them into a programme for millions of people, and imposing it by force.




Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 13 Mar 2013 07:53
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
MUSCLE POWER

The murder of a deputy superintendent of police in Uttar Pradesh and the naming of Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya as an accused in the case has prompted the CPI to reiterate its demand for the overhaul of the electoral system and introduction of the concept of proportional representation to check the criminalisation of politics.

"How far the criminalisation of politics has reached is evident from the recent gruesome murder of the Kunda Circle Officer and Dy SP Ziaul Haq in the wake of the planned murder of the Gram Pradhan Nanhey Singh Yadav and his brother Suresh due to a land dispute," CPI mouthpiece New Age says, accusing bourgeois political parties of patronising criminals who have joined politics.

"Money-muscle power has almost distorted the entire electoral system of the country. The political process in the country... has got vitiated to the extent that it is hard to believe that our people will ever get a chance to see their will and wishes reflected in Parliament and legislatures," it says. The editorial talks about the trend of billionaires and criminals getting elected to state legislatures and offers statistics that one-third of elected representatives face charges of murder, rape, abduction and economic offences.

VIVA CHAVEZ

The mouthpieces of the CPM and CPI(ML) pay glowing tributes to Hugo Chavez and exhort their readers to carry forward his legacy by strengthening struggles.

"He showed in practice that an alternative to neo-liberalism and its trajectory of economic policies was possible within the capitalist system itself. He showed this in the backyard of US imperialism and, thus, challenged its hegemonic drive both ideologically and economically. Of particular significance is his passionate pursuit of the vision of socialism which he confidently believed would be realised through the pursuit of the pro-people and anti-imperialist policies that he had put in place," the editorial in People's Democracy says.

The CPI(ML)'s weekly organ ML Update recalls that Chavez was probably the most important leader in the past quarter-century to have "reclaimed and re-popularised the vision of socialism, reinterpreting it as a new collective life in which equality, freedom, and real and deep democracy reign, and in which the common people plays the role of protagonist." While noting that Chavez radically changed the course of history, particularly of the Latin American continent during the last decades, the Left mouthpieces also talk about the post-Chavez challenge. The real challenge, ML Update says, will be to defeat the US design of regime change and continue the journey initiated.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:56
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
ITALIAN MARINES

While commenting on Italy's refusal to send back two of its marines, the CPM argued that there was a larger issue involved concerning the sovereignty of the country and the capability of the Indian state to ensuring the sanctity of the sovereignty. "These Italian marines had violated Indian law in Indian territory and, hence, need to be punished under our law. A matter of more serious concern is the fact that such a lapse or connivance in subverting India's sovereignty... is not an isolated one,"says an editorial in People's Democracy.

The editorial recalls the "escape" of Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson after the Bhopal gas leak, and brings up Ottavio Quattrocchi's departure in 1993. "All these instances cannot be construed as mere lapses or rank inefficiency of the Indian state... connivance of various levels of authority can be noticed. But more importantly, such an undermining of India's sovereignty and rule of law, particularly with regard to foreign nationals who violate Indian law with virtual impunity, is directly connected with the neoliberal trajectory of economic reforms that India had begun pursuing since 1991," it asserts.

BIHAR SPECIAL

The CPI(ML) weekly ML Update focuses on Nitish Kumar's show of strength in Delhi. It claimed that while the rally spoke of "adhikar" (rights), it only hinted at political deals with the Centre. It says that Kumar has replaced his earlier 2005 keywords of "nyay" (justice) and "vikas" (development). "In 2010. Kumar won an emphatic victory in Bihar with the people of Bihar asking him to deliver on his promise of 'nyay ke saath vikas' (development with justice). But as the government faces growing anger in Bihar for its failure and betrayal on this front, Kumar cleverly wants to shift the agenda to the issue of special category status posing it as the panacea for all that ails Bihar," it states.

"Given Bihar's reality of backwardness, the record of neglect shown by successive Central governments and the insecurity and discrimination that Bihari workers and students continue to face in different parts of India, the demand for special category status for Bihar definitely has a rational basis.. But while the slogans of 'nyay', 'vikas' and 'adhikar' are all unexceptionable, it is Kumar's opportunist politics which has turned all these lofty words virtually into their opposites..." it argues. The party says development in Bihar demands land redistribution and tenancy reforms, which, it claims, is "conspicuously" absent in Kumar's paradigm of development.

BANGLADESH's EXAMPLE

An editorial in CPI journal New Age describes the movement in Bangladesh as heartening and noted that the youth have resisted the attempts of religious fundamentalist forces to rouse religious passions in the wake of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader being sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes in 1971. "Shahbagh youth's resistance to preserve secularism is commendable and needs to be followed in other parts of the subcontinent as the threat of religious fundamentalism and various forms of obscurantism and chauvinism is not confined to Bangladesh alone," it says. The article claims that Pakistan's society is gripped by religious fundamentalism and extremists, while Sinhala chauvinism is on the rise in Sri Lanka.

Noting that clouds of fundamentalism and sectarianism are hovering over the entire region, the article warns that India cannot remain immune. "We have our own brands of communal and chauvinistic forces, which in the recent period have become overactive... With the great battle of 2014 fast approaching... communal polarisation for electoral gains cannot be ruled out," it adds.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 23 Mar 2013 19:41
by member_20036
Anti-Naxal drive: IAF to deploy latest Mi-17 V-5 helicopters

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 146552.cms

NEW DELHI: Strengthening its capability for anti-Naxal operations, IAF will deploy a squadron of its latest Mi-17 V-5 helicopters in Nagpur to cater to the needs of extremism-hit states of Chhattisgarhand Madhya Pradesh.
These helicopters are advanced versions of the existing fleet of Mi-17s in the IAF and are equipped with sophisticated avionics and on-board navigation systems making them more suitable for both day and night operations in Naxal-affected areas.
The helicopters will be deployed in Nagpur to cater to the needs of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in anti-Naxal operations, Indian Air Force sources said.
So far, IAF has deployed its choppers in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh for supporting anti-Naxal operations.
IAF has been providing aerial support to troops from CRPF deployed in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states since 2009.
The choppers are used to insert and evacuate troops during Naxal-operations and have been suitably equipped to operate in dense forests and can operate from temporary helipads there.
The Mi-17 V-5 helicopters have on-board weather radar along with the state-of-the art autopilot and latest night vision devices.
IAF has been providing aerial assistance in the anti-Naxal operations in five states of Chhattisgarh , Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
The force is operating there within the standard operating procedure (SOP) or rules of engagement laid down by the defence ministry, which prescribes for fire in self defence only.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 12:32
by Aditya_V
To be perfectly frank, If INC is away at the Center and out of state power in CH, WB, Orissa, AP, MH, BIhar and Jharkhand. All the Maoist top leadership will move to Delhi and out of country and movement will be dead.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 13:49
by Sachin
Maoists sighting in Kerala has increased during the last few months. The sightings are more on districts adjacent to the Bandipur National Forest Reserve
For Maoists, no groundswell yet in Kerala to piggyback on
We are here, claim Kerala Maoists

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 27 Mar 2013 07:50
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the left
THIRD FRONT

The DMK's withdrawal of support to the UPA — months after the Trinamool Congress walked out of the alliance — highlights the political isolation of the Congress, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat wrote in a party journal. According to him, as the UPA enters its last year in government, all signs indicate the steady erosion of the Congress's base and popularity.

He notes that despite being in a minority in the Lok Sabha, the government continues to pursue neoliberal economic policies. The BJP is no different from the Congress as far as economic policies are concerned, raising the question of how an alternative can be forged to the Congress-led government, he adds.

"As the Lok Sabha election nears, once again the talk of forming a third front against the Congress and the BJP is doing the rounds. As far as the CPM is concerned, a political alternative can emerge only... around an alternative platform of policies," he wrote in the party's Malayalam daily, Deshabhimani. Referring to the jatha campaign that the CPM just undertook to showcase its alternative policy platform, he says it received a big response and adds that the CPM will sit with other left parties and chalk out a united movement for the next phase.

ANTI-RAPE BILL

An editorial in CPI(ML) weekly ML Update discusses the passage of anti-rape legislation in Parliament. "Far from being a momentous and historic blow to patriarchy, however, the occasion only served to remind us what kind of patriarchal reaction we're up against," it notes.

"Only 200 out of 545 MPs remained in the House. The top leadership of the Congress and the UPA coalition stayed away... the debate in the Lok Sabha — marked by open sexism, misogyny and misinformation — could not have presented a greater contrast with the sober and painstaking process of learning from activists on the ground as well as international best practices, undertaken by the Justice Verma Committee," it says."Can we dismiss these sexist voices as deplorable aberrations that we can ignore? Not so, because these are the voices and opinions that managed to influence the bill: getting the age of consent raised to 18, the first offence of stalking made a bailable and non-cognisable offence; reducing the proposed punishment for acid-throwing; making sure that only women could be victims of rape (rather than all persons as proposed by the women's groups)," it says. The article criticises the government for diluting the law against stalking and rejecting Justice Verma's recommendations on marital rape.

INDIA FIRST

An article in the CPI journal, New Age, accuses Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of trying to hoodwink the people by arguing that his idea of secularism is "India first". "Those who believe, preach and practice communalism, as Modi has been doing throughout his life and political career, have always contributed to spreading hatred, discord and hostility between communities... their... theme for political activities mainly revolve around communal polarisation for garnering votes. To search and invent issues that can be used to foment communal tension and to raise anti-minority, especially anti-Muslim slogans has been their favourite pastime. Is that the way of 'India first'?" the article asks.

The article argues that Modi's "India first" pitch was a calculated move to confuse people regarding secularism and divert their attention from the BJP's communal misdeeds. It also touches upon his statement that if a government served the people selflessly, they would forgive its mistakes. "What [does] Modi want the people to forgive? If he wants the people to forgive for the grave sin he committed...then he is sadly mistaken. That was not a mistake. That was an organised crime," it argues.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 27 Mar 2013 08:00
by RamaY
Sachin wrote:Maoists sighting in Kerala has increased during the last few months. The sightings are more on districts adjacent to the Bandipur National Forest Reserve
For Maoists, no groundswell yet in Kerala to piggyback on
We are here, claim Kerala Maoists
There is a good correlation between Maoist presence in Kerala and increasing EJ/Maoist nexus.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 27 Mar 2013 08:12
by RoyG
If Naxalites begin to proliferate in Kerala, a clash with Muslims is inevitable.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 27 Mar 2013 11:32
by Sachin
RoyG wrote:If Naxalites begin to proliferate in Kerala, a clash with Muslims is inevitable.
I dont think Naxalism has any more charm in Kerala. Yes there would be fringe elements who still believe in armed struggle, revolution etc. And I dont think there is a possibility of large scale infiltration of naxals from other parts of India. Yes they can come in as labourers etc. but they may not be able to reach the 'crowd pulling level'. Local dailies reported that naxals when approaching tribal hamlets etc. told the tribals that they are out there to 'protect the forest and the tribal habitat'. Folks in this place generally provides the naxals with rations, but they also pass on the message to the police ;).

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 15:49
by Nitesh
fighting among themselves

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jharkhand-ke ... 3-233.html

New Delhi: Ten alleged Maoists have been killed in an encounter between rival Maoist factions in Chatra in Jharkhand, local police said. CRPF claims key Maoist Arvind's right hand man Lalesh was among those killed in the encounter at Chatra.

Arvind was the alleged mastermind who surgically inserted bombs inside dead CRPF men after the Latehar encounter. Jharkhand DGP Rajiv Kumar told IBNLive that several top Maoists leaders including Lalesh, Prafull Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav and others have been killed. The dead bodies of the killed Maoists have been brought to police headquarters in Ranchi.

The Maoists were killed in an encounter with the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) on Wednesday night. "Bodies of 10 Maoists were recovered near Lakramanda village. They were killed during an encounter with the TPC last night," Chatra Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar told PTI over phone.

Superintendent of Police Anup Birtheray said the encounter between the Maoists and the TPC cadres began on Wednesday evening and lasted till the wee hours on Thursday. "As personnel of the COBRA battalion and district police had reached the area, the rebels could not take away the bodies. Six weapons were also found from the spot," he said.

(With additional information from PTI)

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 15:58
by Aditya_V
I think this is the best way, maoist stole police weapons and started killing themselves, ties the undies of Human rights Business NGO guys as they cannot ask investigation into encounters and claim Gods gift to humanity maoists are being killed in fake encounters.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 18:54
by vishvak
So only in case when security personnel are involved that assorted right groups voice concern? Imagine if police were involved here. The human rights gangs seem to decide selectively on rights while at the same time ignoring to hold violent Maoists for murder.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 10:58
by abhishek_sharma
link

Sept 2012 issue of The Marxist Leninist Journal

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 00:26
by pankajs
Delhi firm helped Maoists get night-vision gear, NIA probes
The NIA is investigating the reported procurement of night-vision equipment by Maoists from a Delhi-based private firm which was raided earlier this week.

The firm is reported to have forged documents to procure the equipment in bulk from a US-based company, and supplied a large part of the consignment to Maoists in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

The NIA raided the Delhi and Punjab premises of the firm and questioned its owner. Besides seizing some highly-sophisticated equipment, the agency claimed to have seized invoices and import documents as well.

In its FIR, the NIA has accused the private firm of waging war against the country. Besides bringing charges of cheating and forgery, the agency has also invoked Section 18 — which deals with conspiracy in a terror act — of the UAPA against the private firm and unknown others.

The FIR says the firm forged documents to show the US company that the order had been placed by the Jharkhand government. The FIR also names top cadres of the CPI (Maoist).

Each piece of the night-vision equipment, which can be used to see up to a distance of four kilometres, is estimated to cost nearly Rs 20 lakh.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 01:14
by member_23629
^^^ These kind of greedy businessmen who see nothing beyond dollars should be dealt with extreme prejudice.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 07:47
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
BRICS BANK

The editorial in CPI journal New Age talks about the just-concluded BRICS summit and the decision of the five member countries to establish a development bank to help the developing world "to come out of the clutches of international finance capital and its tools like IMF and the World Bank."

"Though the establishment of the development bank will take time, its significance should not be missed. The concept is not new. Similar attempts have been made by the Latin American countries. They too have decided to have their own development bank as parallel to the IMF," it says, arguing that Hugo Chavez was the first to moot such an idea of "freeing the economies of the developing countries in Latin America from the manipulation of international finance capital." It notes that BRICS may have much larger impact if the Durban decisions are really implemented.

The article, at the same time, was critical of the UPA government. "It seems that India is not that enthusiastic on the issues discussed at Durban. Though our leaders swear day in and day out by [the] concept of [a] multi-polar world order, we are more and more succumbing to American manipulations. The reasons are obvious. The Congress leadership has sold itself to the policies of neo-liberalism..."

MURDER INCORPORATED

The CPI(ML) weekly ML Update talks about the murder of one of its leaders in Assam. It holds the ruling Congress responsible for the killing of Gangaram Kol. "Gangaram was a militant and popular leader of the tea community in the Dibrugarh-Tinsukia region, and he had been at the forefront of protests against largescale corruption in gram panchayat schemes and in the public distribution system. Undoubtedly, he was killed at the behest of the corrupt nexus of panchayat representatives, government officials, and politicians," it says, pointing fingers at a local Congress MLA.

The editorial talks about the agitation Gangaram had waged to highlight irregularities in PDS and claims the government was reluctant to order a CBI probe but had to do so after public pressure. "Assassination has been a notorious stock-in-trade for the mafia of industrialists and politicians threatened by trade union movements," it says.

SHOP TALK

The Samajwadi Party chief may have triggered a political buzz by talking about a third front, but the CPM is not surprised. On one hand, the future of UPA 2 is uncertain and on the other, the Congress is in a near-pathetic situation in states considered as its strongholds, argues the CPM's People's Democracy: "It is not unusual that in the run-up to general elections, talk of new alliances amongst political parties and excitement over coalitions is generated. However, with nearly a year left for the 2014 general elections, such excitement seems to have begun early mainly due to the growing uncertainty of the UPA 2 alliance..."

Amidst such speculation, it argues that the real aspirations of people do not receive attention. "The reason why parties like the SP that continue to bailout this Congress-led UPA government talk in terms of a third front is precisely because there is pressure from the SP's own political and social base for a change that will provide people some relief from their present miserable conditions of existence."

Compiled by Manðj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 03 Apr 2013 08:00
by abhishek_sharma

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 07:51
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
POWER TO BUY
Questioning the fundamentals of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's prescription for reviving the Indian economy through fiscal consolidation and by creating a better investment climate, the CPM's People's Democracy says the corrective strategy proposed is based on a "wrong analysis of reversing the trend of declining investment." Referring to Singh's speech at the CII annual meet last week, the editorial claims that investments declined because of inadequate purchasing power in the economy caused by subsidy cuts, fuel price hikes and "overall galloping inflation rate".

"The moot question is why did investments decline in the first place? Massive concessions were given in the past three years yet industrial, manufacturing, in fact, the overall growth rate declined. The reason lies in the reality that unless there is purchasing power in the economy, investments by themselves can never produce growth. After all, what is produced needs to be sold, both for profits and growth. This, in turn, requires the adequate purchasing power in the economy," the editorial says, adding, "A reversal of the slowdown of the Indian economy can only happen by increasing the purchasing power of the Indian people. This, in turn, can only happen if the UPA government stops doling out the massive tax concessions and, instead, employs these resources to fund massive public investments."

MAMATASPEAK

Slamming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the death of a student activist in Kolkata, allegedly in police custody, the editorial in the CPI's New Age says, "more hurtful than the brutal murder of the student leader" has been the attitude of the chief minister who has tried to pass the incident off as an "accident".

It says that Banerjee, "who had acquired notoriety in making very inhuman and irresponsible statements, tried to turn it into an accidental death..." It adds, "While falsifying it as an accidental death, she also recalled that her supporters too have died in similar circumstances when she was not in power. It simply means that the past police mistakes justify the police brutality under her regime. Similarly, displaying a totally inhuman approach, she also compared the death with accidents on railway tracks by hitting head with lampposts." The editorial also claims that Banerjee is reluctant to allow college union elections, which is what the student activists were demanding, because she fears educational institutions are turning into "hubs of opposition against her regime."

Extolling West Bengal's erstwhile Left regime, the CPI mouthpiece says the state was once the "model in maintaining law-and-order, even during the troubled days of communal violence in other parts of the country."

UNITED STATE

The CPI-ML's ML Update focuses on its just-concluded ninth congress at Ranchi. It claims that the congress's theme — calling for defending "People's Resources, People's Rights' against corporate plunder, smashing of the 'Business-Politics Nexus' and strengthening of a 'People's Politics' emerging from people's struggles" — resonated with the people in the backdrop of scams and corruption scandals. ML Update also says the theme was apt for Jharkhand where all ruling coalitions and parties have facilitated the "corporate plunder of resources by evicting the resisting indigenous Adivasis through ruthless repression" since the state's formation. The "foremost task" of the Left at such a juncture is "to unite with people's movements and seek to assert a people's political alternative rooted in people's resistance," the report adds.

Compiled by Ruhi Tewari

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 08:42
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
FAST FORWARD

Amidst the debate over Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi, the Left is leaving no stone unturned to take digs at both the Congress and the BJP. Sitaram Yechury, in the CPM's People's Democracy, sums it up with an old Telugu saying: "aalu ledu, chulu ledu, koduku peru Somalingam". This, he says, "roughly translates to mean: neither do I have a home nor a wife, but I have named my son as Somalingam! Neither have the elections been announced nor has either of these parties won the people's mandate but they are already projecting the future prime minister of India!" He notes that both parties have chosen to launch their projections from the forums of India Inc.

"This is a reflection of the reality of two Indias today. The luminosity of 'shining' India is directly proportional to the depravity of the 'suffering' India. By choosing the corporate fora, both the parties have clearly signalled that they would continue to pursue policies which will only widen the hiatus between these two Indias..." he adds.

NAMING TERRORISTS

The editorial in the CPI's mouthpiece New Age claims the NIA has finally concluded that the blasts in Malegaon were the handiwork of Abhinav Bharat, "a Hindutvavadi outfit". It says the agency is expected to file the chargesheet before May 20 and notes it could result in the release of nine Muslim youths languishing in jail for seven years. Arguing the time has come to have a fresh look at terrorism, the editorial says, "We have been repeatedly asserting that the problem of terrorism in India is neither new nor linked with the perception of America whose then president George Bush termed the attack on symbols of its economic and military might as beginning of the new Crusade... India's then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee swallowed this prescription and coined the phrase: All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims. Since then this had been the policy of the Union Home Ministry and minds of personnel of all law enforcing agencies... have been poisoned..." it says.

NITISH's postures

The CPI-ML's weekly ML Update hits out at Nitish Kumar, saying his veiled suggestion that Narendra Modi would be unacceptable as NDA's PM candidate was mere posturing: "Why didn't Nitish speak out against Narendra Modi in 2002, when the Gujarat massacre took place? Why did Nitish remain a minister in the NDA government at the Centre at that time?" Nitish, it says, conveniently claims Vajpayee was a genuinely secular and inclusive leader, who upbraided Modi for failing to uphold Rajdharma in 2002. "Can the country forget, though, that Vajpayee himself, following the Sangh-scripted Rajdharma, looked benignly on when the minorities of Gujarat were being massacred? ...Claims of the NDA government upholding 'Rajdharma' are nothing but a fig-leaf that fails to hide Vajpayee's and Nitish's shameless collusion in the Gujarat massacre," it adds, saying that Nitish is peddling the fiction that the "BJP is secular but Modi is communal."

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 21:29
by member_20036
Chhattisgarh: BSF helicopterfired at by Maoists

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/04/17/c ... 67248.html
A BSF helicopter on Wednesday was fired at by Maoists in the jungles of south Bastar in Chhattisgarh, say officials. The helicopter was used for lifting commandos conducting anti-Maoists operations.
The Mi-17 helicopter suffered bullet shots in the cockpit area but landed safely with the last passenger load of ’Greyhound’ commandos in Andhra Pradesh’s Bhadrachalam in Khammam district, senior officials involved in the operation said.
The helicopter was pressed for troop evacuation after the commando squad conducted an anti-Maoist operation in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday where ten Maoists were killed .
The incident of opening fire at the chopper took place in Puwarti village under Jagargunda police station area of the district in south Bastar during the evening hours.
During the firing, ten commandos of Andhra Pradesh police force were evacuated, they said.
Security forces had also thrown a ring around the helipad but still the Maoists attempt to hit the chopper succeeded, they said, adding that a squad of CRPF personnel fanned in the nearby areas to look for Maoistscadres.
Two IAF Mi-17 choppers were also part of the same operation on Wednesday but they were safe during their entire sortie where they transported 30 Greyhounds personnel from Chhattisgarh to Andhra Pradesh.
This is the second incident of Naxalites firing on security forces’ helicopters after an IAF chopper was hit in January in the same district.
A joint squad of Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhounds, CRPF andState police had conducted an operation in the area on Tuesday.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 22:29
by Rudradev
Finally some good news!

http://www.tndpost.com/nation/breaking- ... W7ZRMqHcdo


Chhattisgarh gun battle blow to Andhra Maoists (News Analysis)

Hyderabad, April 17 The killing of nine Maoists, including a top leader, in a gunfight with police in the forests of Chhattisgarh near the Andhra Pradesh border Tuesday has come as another blow to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist).

After losing its traditional strongholds in Andhra Pradesh over the last six years, the Maoists are also receiving setbacks on the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh-Orissa borders, the two regions where they are still active and trying to revive the Maoist activity, security experts aver.

It was another key breakthrough by Greyhounds, the elite anti-Maoist force of Andhra Pradesh Police, which in a joint operation with Chhattisgarh Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) virtually wiped out Khammam-Karimnagar-Warangal (KKW) division committee of the CPI (Maoist).

The slain Maoists include Marri Ravi alias Sudhakar, secretary of KKW division committee and member of North Telangana state zonal committee, who was carrying a Rs.8 lakh reward on his head. A native of Seetarampur village of Ghanpur mandal in Warangal district, Sudhakar went underground in 1995.

His wife Lakshmi alias Pushpakka, secretary of Kothagudem-Narsannapet area committee, was also killed. She was among five women killed in the gun battle. A native of Rampur village of Bhupalapally mandal of the same district, she was carrying a reward of Rs.4 lakh on her head.

All Maoists killed in the gunfight were from Andhra Pradesh.

Like in other gun battles in the region in the past, the input about the presence of Maoists in Puvarti village of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh came from Andhra Pradesh Police. Greyhound commandos, with their expertise in fighting Maoists, moved in first to encircle the area.

The operation is being considered the most successful anti-Maoist one in Chhattisgarh.

A police official said Greyhounds commandos had been carrying out combing operations in both Andhra Pradesh-Orissa and Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border areas to prevent the guerillas from regrouping and sending their cadres into Chhattisgarh.

North Telangana and Nallamalla forests in south coastal Andhra Pradesh were once the strongholds of Maoists, with several active 'dalams' - or armed squads of then CPI(ML) People's War Group - which merged with the Maoist Communist Centre in 2005 to form CPI (Maoist).

However, sustained combing operations by police, especially the Greyhounds, wiped out many 'dalams'. Some cadres, including top leaders, escaped to neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Orissa and other states.

Greyhounds, which have become a role model for the entire country in tackling Maoists and has also won laurels from other countries, are training security personnel in other states and providing them satellite imagery and intelligence to track down Maoists.

The state police also are using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to track down the Left wing extremists in dense forest areas on borders with Chhattisgarh and Orissa. I have read in other reports too that the use of UAVs was critical to the success of this operation. Any idea what UAVs are being used?

Andhra Pradesh, which was once the hotbed of Maoists with over 3,000 armed cadres, now has less than 300.

"Of these, 200 have shifted to other states and some are on the border with neighbouring states," Director General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy said a few months ago.

The union home ministry early this year made available a new helicopter for anti-Maoist operations in north Telangana districts and parts of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Andhra Pradesh Police are heading the unified command for the anit-Maoist operations.
.
(Edited and modified by thenewdelhipost)
IANS

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:22
by vasu raya
Think they were Nishant's, more of the same were ordered says a news report

in-a-first-uav-used-to-record-gunfight-with-naxals-in-cgarh

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 20 Apr 2013 07:58
by Kati
Any latest info about Venugopal (a.k.a. Sonu) - the younger bro of Kishen-rat?
Has he taken over the Lalgarh area operations? he was known to be in charge of
the Dandakaranya Regional Committee. Any latest update?
Any input will be helpful because the Panchayat election in bengal is fast
approaching, and maobadis upcoming strategic moves are of much interest.
Thanx.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 20 Apr 2013 09:06
by RamaY
vasu raya wrote:Think they were Nishant's, more of the same were ordered says a news report

in-a-first-uav-used-to-record-gunfight-with-naxals-in-cgarh
Hopefully this puts rest to fake-encounter claims.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 20 Apr 2013 21:21
by abhishek_sharma

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 21 Apr 2013 08:11
by RamaY
In recent encounter a Reserve Sub Inspector Varaprasad was caught by Maoists. Police found his dead body in a pond today. The dead body has its eyes pulled out and hands chopped off.

Looks like Maoists are getting close to their Paki brothers.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 06:25
by abhishek_sharma
Views from the Left
MOCK FIGHT

An editorial in the CPI weekly New Age discusses what it termed a "mock fight" between allies BJP and JD(U), and criticises Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for remaining with the BJP even after the post-Godhra riots. The article points out that "when the riots took place in Gujarat, Nitish Kumar was very much the railway minister in the Vajpayee government (and) he did not raise his voice against it, though another Bihar leader resigned from the ministry over the issue."

"Not only this, after the riots, there were two general elections for Lok Sabha and Nitish and his JD(U) very much contested these elections as a constituent of the NDA. Was not Modi communal at that time?" it asks. It goes on to argue that Nitish has no problem with other BJP leaders and perhaps considers them to be secular. "L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati and scores of BJP leaders are still facing trial for the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992... Does Nitish feel the demolition of a historical place of worship [to be] a lesser crime?" it wonders.

SETTING AN EXAMPLE

The CPI(ML)'s weekly ML Update focuses on rape in Delhi and other parts of the country. It alleges that the incidence of crimes against women and children, aided and abetted by police apathy and misogyny, is evidence that the Central and state governments have not attempted to seriously read, let alone implement, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee report.

The article claims that the demand for the sacking of the Delhi Police Commissioner is entirely justified in light of the rape of a five-year-old girl in Delhi and the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Aligarh. "He claims that the suspension of the accused Delhi cops pending inquiry is 'due process' and is adequate action. When police officers break the law and commit a crime, they must not be spared: action as mandated by the law must follow just as it would in the case of a common citizen. And the law mandates that a police officer who is derelict in duty in a sexual violence case must face criminal charges that, if proved, could lead to between six months and two years in jail.

"Similarly, assault of an unarmed citizen by a police officer is a crime — why the delay in lodging an FIR against a crime, just because the perpetrator is a cop, that too when video evidence stands testimony to the crime?" it asks. The article argues that accountability on part of the police is crucial in curbing rapes and other crimes against women. "And accountability can be ensured only by a zero tolerance policy for wrongdoers in uniform," it says.

RESIGNATION DEMAND

An editorial in CPM journal People's Democracy demands that Narendra Modi resign as Gujarat chief minister for his role in the post-Godhra riots. It says the "recent exposure of evidence that the Gujarat state government was receiving a continuous stream of intelligence reports after the unfortunate Godhra train tragedy, and that the situation was building up towards a communal conflagration, were not taken into account by the state administration, shows the latter's connivance in the subsequent communal carnage that took place in 2002".

The article notes that this material was submitted to the special investigation team (SIT) three-and-a-half months before it submitted its final report. "Now new petitions have been filed before the judiciary claiming that the SIT decided to cover up the crimes and has gone out of its way to misguide the court, giving a clean chit to the accused and closing the case. The judiciary must take cognisance of this fact," it says. Under these circumstances, the editorial says, "by any standards of morality, the Gujarat chief minister must resign forthwith."

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 12 May 2013 15:19
by RSoami
http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisg ... 48042.html

Three policemen killed in naxal attack.

Re: The Red Menace

Posted: 25 May 2013 21:05
by nawabs
Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh: Congress leader killed, party chief abducted

http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/na ... 50868.html
In a major attack, Naxals on Saturday targeted Congress' 'Parivartan Yatra' in Chhattisgarh, killing senior leader Mahendra Karma, who is known for his work concerning Salwa Judum. According to police sources, Naxals have abducted state party chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son.

Reportedly, senior Congress leaders Vidya Charan Shukla and Kawasi Lakma were also shot at by Naxals during the attack in Jagdalpur district of Chhattisgarh.

According to reports, bombs were also used by Naxals during the attack. The Chhattisgarh Police said that they were not in a position to say anything about the security lapse as they were yet to get necessary information on the attack.

Though the Chhattisgarh government is yet to respond to the attack, police confirmed that Congress leaders were targeted by Naxals.

Reacting to the incident, Chhattisgarh Congress media cell president Shailesh Trivedi alleged that ruling BJP government did not provide adequate security to the Congress' Yatra despite opposition from Naxals.

"Naxals have opposed both BJP's Vikas Yatra and Congress' Parivartan Yatra. However, the state government provided security only to BJP's Yatra and not to the one organised by Congress. Had it been provided security, today's incident would not have happened," he said.

Trivedi said he was trying to contact the party leaders who were part of the Yatra but was unable to do so as the incident occurred in forested area.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has called for an emergency meeting after the attack.